Tian Tan

Speaker Bio

Tian Tan is the Founder and CEO of Doctor Scrap (www.doctorscrap.com), a global pioneer in deploying artificial intelligence (AI) and computer vision (CV) to revolutionize the international scrap and recycling industry.

With an MBA from Auburn University in the USA and over 18 years of deep-seated experience in the sector, Tian previously served as the Vice President of a major North American recycling corporation, managing extensive operations across the continent. This frontline exposure to the industry's core challenges—reliance on opaque, experience-based judgment and inefficient manual processes—became the catalyst for his entrepreneurial venture.

In 2021, he founded Doctor Scrap and launched the "Doctor Scrap" platform. His mission was clear: to digitize a trillion-dollar, traditionally "informationalized" industry by solving two fundamental questions: "What is this scrap?" and "What is it worth?".

Under Tian's leadership, Doctor Scrap has achieved remarkable milestones:

The platform integrates an AI+CV-powered "eye" and "brain" to identify mixed scrap materials and a proprietary pricing engine linked to bulk commodity futures, creating a standardized, data-driven marketplace. In 2026, the auto sorting "arm+hand" become the industry hottest subject and strat getting orders from global leading scrap companies.

Starting with a seed round investment from MiraclePlus (formerly Y Combination China), the platform rapidly gained global traction. After joining the Google for Startups Accelerator in 2022, its transaction volume grew from $4 million to over $100 million within 3 years. It now serves over 10,000 of bulk scrap recycling enterprises, customs, governments and fortune 500 cooperations across more than 170 countries.

Tian is a respected thought leader in circular economy. He is a two-time nominee for the S&P Global Metal Awards (2020, 2021) and a recipient of the 2025 global Cheers Award ESG Gold Medal and the 2024 global 100+ Double Gold Award. He also holds the position of Lifetime Honorary Chairman of the Recycling Subcommittee at the MIT UA Biennial Conference. In 2025, his paper regarding Ai and recycling has been published on IEEE top journal.

Driven by the vision of moving the global scrap recycling rate from under 20% towards 100%, Tian Tan continues to lead Doctor Scrap in building intelligent, transparent infrastructure for the world's recycling ecosystem, turning waste into valuable resources on a global scale.